Scream 6 has just released their teaser trailer for the newest installment and fans of the franchise are starting to get excited. Releasing March 10, Ghostface is stirring up some trouble in the Big Apple and antagonizing the new cast that we met in Scream 5. The teaser shows Sam (Melissa Barrera), Tara (Jenna Ortega), Mindy (Jasmine Savoy Brown), and Chad (Mason Gooding) on a subway unnervingly staring Ghostface down in their empty, menacingly white mask. The words “In a city of millions, no one hears you scream” are the newest tagline for the sixth film that will be the biggest change in the franchise thus far.
Will ‘Scream 6’ Have a New Final Girl?
One of the biggest changes is that Neve Campbell is not returning as the beloved final girl, Sidney Prescott. Campbell is not returning to the franchise due to salary issues, but according to Jenna Ortega, there will be so much action and gore that audiences won’t notice. But what will happen to the franchise without Sidney? Die-hard Scream fans everywhere seem to be a little up in arms about the final girl not returning, but could this be a positive change for the franchise going forward?
We Don’t Need Closure
Unlike Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise, there doesn’t feel like there’s unfinished business between Sidney and Ghostface because Ghostface was never one consistent killer. Fans and viewers lined up to see Halloween Ends for the epic conclusion between Laurie and Michael after years of her surviving and him persisting. We don’t get that same type of long-term connection between Sidney and Ghostface since anyone can don the cloak and mask. From Sidney’s boyfriend to a grieving mother to a long-lost sibling, each Ghostface killer had different motive and reason to stalk and kill. How would Sidney ever stop Ghostface once and for all if the enigma can be anyone? Someone new came out of the woodwork and took Sidney and the gang by surprise when they found out who it was every film. By this standard, there would never be closure between Sidney and Ghostface, so at what point does she just get to move on with her life? In Scream 5, the script laid the groundwork for her being able to live a life that can be as normal as possible for being Sidney Prescott. The first scene we see her in, she’s running along a boardwalk pushing a stroller and makes reference to being married to Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) from Scream 3. Even though she’s brought back to Woodsboro for this installment, her presence there is only to be served as the new killer’s attempted legacy kill because of their obsession with the story and it’s survivors. She is no longer the main focus and, really, that’s okay.
Ghostface Can Be Anyone
For the newest installment, this can open up a lot more possibilities for potential killers and create more room for growth as 5 and 6 may be seen as a spin-off to the original franchise instead of a continuation. In Scream 5, we already see a slight difference in direction of motive. Yes, the murders happen in Woodsboro again and yes, Gail (Courtney Cox) and Sidney and Dewey (David Arquette) come back, but the motive is more centered around being a requel or legacyquel with a whole new generation. This Ghostface, Richie (Jack Quaid) and Amber (Mikey Madison), find each other on an obsessed fan Reddit and decide they are the ones that need to carry on the legacy of new possibilities. There seems to always be a connection between Ghostface and a previous film, so we can expect the connection to be there even if it’s not with Sidney directly. Fans are also excited that Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) from Scream 4 is back and everyone is wondering what her part will be in the grand scheme of things and if Ghostface will be directly linked to Scream 4 or not.
Moving Forward
We still see ties in Scream 5 to the OG Ghostface in Billy Loomis’ (Skeet Ulrich) daughter, Sam, but the lack of Sidney may deter audiences from checking it out. If fans can love the Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday The 13th franchises when they took new directions, there is hope for Scream as an entire franchise as well. As we all know, there are certain rules one must abide by to survive a scary movie, and Scream has always stayed true to the formula and delivers in a meta-horror world. Scream 6 has the opportunity to one-up the rest of the franchise by taking it in a bold new direction with more twists, more gore, and more action. Just remember, everybody’s a suspect!
